February 19, 2015

Using the recent killings of two Japanese men by the extremist group “Islamic State” as justification, the Abe government is aiming to engage Japan’s Self-Defense Forces in operations to rescue Japanese nationals taken hostage abroad. However, the SDF’s own public relations bulletin referred to such operations as “unrealistic”.

At an Upper House plenary session in February, PM Abe expressed his intent to revise the SDF Law for this end, stressing that it is the government’s responsibility to exercise full abilities of the SDF to protect people’s lives.

A column in the newspaper “Asagumo” dated February 12 said that this kind of mission is “extremely difficult” to accomplish, citing the fact that even the U.S. Special Operation Forces had many times failed to rescue American captives in the Middle East and elsewhere.

The article went on to note that the argument that an intensification of the Ground SDF capabilities and a revision of the current law will make it possible to rescue Japanese hostages abroad is “irresponsible” and “misleading the general public”.


Past related article:
> Japan should learn lesson from prewar aggression started by using pretext of ‘protection of Japanese nationals’ [February 2 & 3, 2015]